No. 9. 



Professional Life— Farmer^ s Choice. 



295 



tremities are preserved for tliis jiurpose, they 

 willtfun, and moreover will be later in bear- 

 ing'. To have early fruit of cither the squash, 

 cucumber or melon, the very lir.st should be 

 reserved. — Southern Agriculturist. 



Professional liife« 



The ambition of adopting professional life 

 of all kinds, at the present day, is tlie source 

 of countless instances of misery. Every pro- 

 fession in England is overstocked ; not mere- 

 ly the prizes are beyond the general reach, 

 but the merest subsistence becomes difficult. 

 The " three black graces, law, physic and 

 divinity," are weary of their innumerable 

 worshippers, and yearly sentence crowds of 

 them to perish of the aching sense of failure. 

 A few glittering successes allure the multi- 

 tude; chancellorships, bishoprics, and regi- 

 ments figure before the public eye ; and 

 every aspirant from the cottage, and the more 

 foolish parents of every aspirant, set down 

 the bauble as gained when they have once 

 plunged their unlucky oflspring into the sea 

 of troubles, which men call the world. But 

 thousands have died of broken hearts in these 

 pursuits, thousands who would have been 

 happy behind the plough, or opulent behind 

 the counter; thousands in the desperate 

 struggles of thankless professions, look upon 

 the simplicity of a life of manual labour with 

 perpetual envy; and thousands, by a worse 

 fate still, are driven to necessities which de- 

 grade the principles of honour with them, 

 accustom them to humiliating modes of ob- 

 taining subsistence, and make up, by admin- 

 istering to the vices of society, the livelihood 

 which was refused to their legitimate exer- 

 tions. — Blackwood. 



Tlie Farmer's Cliolce» 



" A little house well fill'd, 

 A little wife well will'd, 

 ^ A little land well till'd." 



Our ancestors were fed on broad and broth, 

 And woo'd their healthy wives in homespun cloth; 

 Our mothers, nurtured at the nodding reel. 

 Gave all their daughters lessons on the wheel. 

 Though spinning does not much reduce the waist, 

 II made their food much sweeter to tlie taste : 

 They plied with honest zeal the mop and broom, 

 And drove the shuttle through the noisy loom. 

 Tlicy never once complaiu'd as we do now, 

 " We have no girl to cook, and milk the cow." 

 Each mother taught her rod-cheek'd son and daughter. 

 To bake, to brew, and draw a pail of water : 

 No damsel shunn'd the wash-tub, broom or pail, 

 To keL'p uiisoil'd a long-grown linger nail. 

 They sought no gaudy dress, no wasp-like form. 

 But ate to live, and work'd to keep them warm. 

 No idle youth, no tight laced, mincing fair, 

 Became a livid corpse, for want of air- 

 No fidgets, faintings, fits of frightful blues; 

 No painful corns from wearing Chinese shoes, 



We acknowledge the receipt— through the 

 kindness of Mr. Orrin Rogers, the proprietor 

 and publisher of the work, No. 37 South 

 Second street— of a most valuable publication 

 on agriculture, husbandry, and rural afliiirs. 

 It is denominated " The American Farmer's 

 Instructor, or Practical Agriculturist," and 

 contains within the limits of five hundred 

 pages, octavo, the condensed matter of thou- 

 sands of pages, scattered through scores of 

 volumes, on the science of whicii it treats; 

 of the highest standard of merit, both ancient 

 and modern, as well foreign as domestic. 



The compilation of the volume was the 

 work of a iWaster, performed hy dying hands. 

 By means of a copious Index, any article 

 sought for, can be found in an instant ; and 

 this arrangement, to a practical man, who 

 has " a place for every thing, and every thing 

 in its place," will be properly appreciated. 

 Such a work has long been called for, and 

 now that it has appeared, may it be welcomed 

 by every farmer in the United States. There 

 are additional reasons why it should be par- 

 ticularly cherished by the friends of the 

 " Farmers' Cabinet." First, it is the work 

 of the late Mr. Francis S. Wiggins, the 

 founder and sole editor of that publication to 

 the end of the last year, and whose early 

 death, all connected with it must sincerely 

 deplore. And second, his ainiable and be- 

 reaved family have a deep interest in the 

 success of its publication. We shall have 

 frequent occasion to enrich our numbers with 

 extracts and observations from its interesting 

 and valuable pages. — Ed. 



N. B. — The above work is sold also by 

 i\les.srs. Kimber & Sharpless, No. 50 North 

 Fourth street, Philadelphia, the proprietors 

 and publishers of the Farmers' Cabinet; of 

 whom may be had the works of the best 

 writers on agriculture, foreign and domestic. 



The man of genius thinks for himself. His 

 opinions are sometimes contrary to those 

 commonly received : he therefore shocks the 

 vanity of the greater number. To offend 

 nobody, we should have no ideas but those 

 of the world ; as man is then without genius 

 and without enemies. 



